http://store.steampowered.com/early-holiday

I AM SO EXCITED!?!?!?!!!?!??!?!

The package includes:

• Updated Hammer, the Source level editor
• Suite of command line compiling utilities, such as studiomdl and map compiling tools
• Updated Particle editor
• Updated Faceposer
• Example maps
• Example models: common Infected, a breakable prop, and explosives

More info at the VDC wiki: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Authoring_Tools/SDK_(Left_4_Dead)

• All screenshots get uploaded at once (multi-file uploader).
• All screenshots are automatically added to a map's gallery.

We could really use some help getting more screenshots up! Use the dropdown menu at the left to see maps that need screenshots.

Next is the new featured maps area.

• Can display many maps at a time. Use the buttons to switch between them.
• Shows larger images.
• Generated dynamically. All you have to do is tag a map with "featured" and it'll show up on the front page.

Please help by featuring maps that deserve some attention. Feature your own map if you want.

L4D Map DB now has its own .com domain: L4DMapDB.com. This should be a lot easier to remember and deal with. All old URLs will automatically point to the new one.

• Even though "wikidot" is no longer in the URL, don't forget that L4D Map DB is a wiki. Maps and map updates are coming out at a much faster pace, and we need everyone's help to continue. If you come across maps that aren't on the site, either invite the mapper to join, add the maps yourself, or post a link to it in the forum so someone else can add it.

On the right side of the main page, you will notice a new "New content" section. This provides a more visual list of new maps and campaigns, and keeps the front page always looking fresh. Also check out the new feeds page for more ways to keep track of activity. Lots of little improvements are made all the time that aren't really news-worthy, but you can read the dev log if you care about that kind of stuff.

Mapping:

As mentioned, there are many automated ways of watching for new content, but here is a brief summary of map releases.

• In the Dead City campaign, River Side is finally a "final" release, and Back Alley and Draw Bridge maps have been added.
• Death Aboard campaign has received updates to all of its maps.
• City Naniwa campaign has received updates to all of its maps and added the final map, City Naniwa Tower.
• The Mortuary 01 map updated.
• Back to School campaign has its first map: Train Station, a city map with train station, woods, and more.
• Blood Hospital, a 3-map campaign where survivors escape a hospital.
• Zelda, a Zelda puzzle map.
• Escape from Toronto/Canada campaign (only first map available).
• Fantazyland Castle, a castle defense map.
• Basement, a city map.

For unreleased maps, mrfranswa's The Source looks absolutely stunning.

Just started to work on Chrome, thanks!

I have not tried with IE yet, but is it compatible with all the browsers?? Or is it just IE right now.

Great work though! This will help me so much =D!

This is freakin sweet!

Thanks for telling us cold_blood. I plan to get involved/participate with a few map productions going on and this will be a good jump start for me(I have mapped with the Hammer Editor before, but not for L4D specifically).

Cya Around!,
~Mikeumus

http://www.l4d.com/LevelDesignDocs.zip
Download and extract the .zip, then open index.html

This contains a ton of helpful info and tutorials for:

• Getting Started
• Your First L4D Level
• Ladders
• Visibility
• Nav Meshes
• Checkpoints
• Checkpoint Rooms
• Outdoor Levels
• Level Organization
• Level Standards
• Clip Brushes
• Elevators
• Panic Events
• Breakable Walls
• Finale Events Part 1
• Finale Events Part 2
• Finale Events Part 3
• Additional Finale Components
• Nav Flow
• Advanced Nav Editing
• Versus Maps

Note that some of these tutorials depend on the SDK, which isn't out yet.

source: list.valvesoftware.com/pipermail/l4dmapper

Thanks to arramus for posting this up in the Forum!

View the new detailed list of campaigns
(or go to "detailed view" on the campaign list to the left)

All of the map category lists (like official, released, work-in-progress, etc.) now have a list of campaigns in the same category. Just click the "view campaigns" button to switch to the campaign list view. This means campaigns can be tagged, which results in much better organization. Thanks to Bobv2 for suggesting these improvements!

Also on the topic of site enhancements: A new page watching/email notification system was recently added. Anytime you create or contribute to a page, you'll automatically start "watching" it and will receive notifications when changes are made. This can easily be turned off if you'd rather not be notified.

A few bits of mapping activity to mention:

• Keep a close watch on the Death Aboard campaign. With the release of Docks (third map), it's quickly developing into one of the best L4D campaigns yet.
• City Minami is now City Naniwa, and has added another map called City Naniwa Subway.
• The Warehouse is a promising start to the Road to Hell campaign.
• Two new "survival/defense" style maps: Cottage of Doom (barricading system) and Gates of Hell (infinite duration defense).
• The School (Survival 101).

Episode 12 of Survivors Diary Podcast released Monday. They've interviewed a secret mapper and discuss many of the maps recently released. Their site ran out of bandwidth, but you can download the mp3 here.

http://www.l4dt.com/?page_id=233

Keep mappin!,
Mikeumus

I've put the 2 Death Aboard maps on a custom server so I can test them properly with some buddies later. Nice job on the poster.